Asian Cosplayers Impressed With Pinoy Cosplayers in Cosplay Mania '11

Guests impressed with the costumes, performances and the Filipinos themselves.

Though they braved the worst storm to hit the country this year, They were unprepared for the deluge of excellent performances and the astounding creativity of the Filipino cosplayer.

The international guests of Cosplay Mania 11, Pinky Lu Xun of Indonesia, Clive Lee of Singapore, Natthar Janjarhatsin and Charnon Porngarunathikul, or more popularly known as Yuki Godbless and Jiaki Darkness respectively, of Thailand, and Songwen Owyang, of the Anime Festival Asia, were all at awe and impressed at the cosplayers who showed their prowess during the weekend.

Lee’s visit is his second visit here in Cosplay Mania and in the Philippines, the first one is was last year. He wore the Gundam Mecha costume last year but he went here without the mecha this time.

“What can I say, my second visit here… because I am not in mecha costume… is really different because it is much bigger… It was a spectacle sitting there, judging, it’s really great” Lee exclusively told ZEN Otaku Honbu at the end of Cosplay Mania.

Lee judged the Costume Building Contest, which was his first time judging it, and also the Cosplay Tournament of Champions.

Asked if he will come back to the next installments of Cosplay Mania, Clive said “I will be a frequent visitor, I hope that next event I would be free to roam around to interact with everyone, be a normal cosplayer and enjoy the event, That would be great.”

Pinky’s visit to Cosplay Mania 11 is a number of firsts for her. It was her first visit to the Philippines, she did her very first cosplay workshop in Asia and it is her first time to judge here in the Philippines.

And she enjoyed all their performances.

“I feel so happy to be here, all the Filipino cosplayer[s] are great. I like the food, I like the people, I like everything here” she told ZEN

And what food she liked? “I ate two plates of Sisig” she said in jest, adding that she liked spicy food.

She told us about her first cosplay workshop in Asia, which was held last Saturday, and she enjoyed the people who listened to her workshop.

As a judge in the Cosplay Tournament of Champions, she endeared the audience with two Filipino sentences that she described to two of the participants.

She was amazed at Team Enigma, from Davao, that she told them “Mahal ko kayong dalawa” (I love you both), and on the Team March Omega, which emerged as the champions for the TORCH, she teased one of the members who crossplayed. “Ang gwapo mo, Mahal Kita” (You’re so handsome, I love you)

“I think all of the participants of TORCH were great… It is so hard to judge in the tournament. Yeah, I just learned some Filipino language because I really loved that one (referring to the Davao-based Cosplayers) [that] I really said mahal ko kayo and the winning team has that craftsmanship and, yeah, one of them was so gwapo” she said.

She thanked all of her Filipino fans who went and supported the event, adding that she felt like it was home.

Natthar and Charnon, or Yuki and Jiaki, respectively, were Thailand’s representatives to the World Cosplay Summit held in Japan, and they, too were also amazed with the cosplayers who showed off in the competitions.

“They have good performances… I really liked it” Charnon said

When asked about what they thought about The Philippines in terms of Cosplay, Natthar gave a lengthy reply. “Each country has a different [perception when it comes to] cosplayer[s]. Different cultures, something like that. Actually, in Manila, it’s my first time to be here, and the cosplayers here… they show something and people take pictures and they are very happy.”

They are hoping to return back here in the Philippines to enjoy Cosplay Mania again.

Songwen Owyang is the official representative of the Anime Festival Asia who came here to the Philippines to witness the crowning of the winner who will be sent to the event scheduled for November in Suntec in Singapore.

Songwen said that he enjoyed the cosplayers and the costumes and he said that everyone had fun.

“Everyone put in a lot of effort and everyone did their best for their costumes, and the competition overall” Songwen said.

The international guests sure had a very hard time picking who won in the Competitions especially in the TORCH. And no doubt that the participants in all the competitions at Cosplay Mania gave them a lasting mark that the Filipino Cosplayer has now entered the global stage with the craftsmanship, creativity and the Filipino spirit behind it.

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Journalist, Otaku, Filipino, Currently working in two media-related entities but finds anime journalism the most exciting passion and job he ever has right now. Currently the Managing Editor for Events & Features.

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